Cheryl Mehrkar is a part of history. The New York woman recently became the first-ever person to undergo a fully robotic double lung transplant, NYU Langone Health announced in a press release.
“I’m so grateful to the donor and their family for giving me another chance at life,” Mehrkar said. “For a long time, I was told I wasn’t sick enough for a transplant. The team at NYU Langone Health centered my quality of life as a priority, and I’m so grateful to the doctors and nurses here for giving me hope.”
Mehrkar, 57, spent years scuba diving, getting her black belt in karate, and riding her motorcycle. When she was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in 2010, though, everything changed. Her health progressively went downhill, first due to an overactive thyroid and later from COVID-19.
Eventually, she was placed on the transplant list. She was in for surgery with NYU’s Dr. Stephanie H. Chang just days later.
“It is one of the greatest privileges to be able to help patients return to a healthy quality of life,” Dr. Chang said. “By using these robotic systems, we aim to reduce the impact this major surgery has on patients, limit their postoperative pain, and give them the best possible outcome. It couldn’t happen here without a talented group of surgeons and an institution dedicated to moving transplantation forward.”
How Is the Surgery Performed?
The New York Post reported that, during surgery, Chang made small incisions between Mehrkar’s ribs. Chang then employed the Da Vinci Xi robotic system to remove Mehrkar’s diseased lungs, prepare her heart and airway for implantation, and sew in the donor’s lungs.
“The benefits are really significantly smaller incisions, so better healing for the patient and less post-operative pain,” Chang said.
Shortly after the seven-hour procedure, Mehrkar was able to take “a good breath.” Since then, she said, “it’s just gotten better.”
“It’s been such a positive, healthy experience,” Mehrkar told the outlet of her surgery and recovery. She also expressed gratitude to the family of the man who donated his lungs to her.
“I can only imagine the grieving that family went through while I was getting better,” Mehrkar told the outlet. “And I just need them to know that he’s living and he’s doing good, and I will do everything I can to take care of these lungs—and that’s a promise.”
Past Robotic Surgeries
NYU is a leader in innovation. The hospital’s press release noted that its surgeons perform more than 2,000 robot-assisted surgeries each year.
“We are grateful to have some of the most talented surgeons in the world who break barriers and push the boundaries of what is possible for our patients,” Dr. Ralph S. Mosca said. “This latest innovation is a watershed moment in lung transplantation surgery worldwide and just the beginning of a new era in patient care.”
Indeed, earlier this year, Chang celebrated “a very huge milestone” when she performed the country’s first-ever fully robotic single lung transplant. Performing Mehrkar’s double lung transplant with the same technique was even more exciting.
“That’s what a majority of patients get,” Chang told the outlet of a double lung transplant. “So we needed to improve the single technique where it was short enough and efficient enough for us to be able to do two [lungs] in a short setting without any damage to the new organs.”
The post Woman Receives First-Ever Fully Robotic Double Lung Transplant appeared first on VICE.
The post Woman Receives First-Ever Fully Robotic Double Lung Transplant appeared first on VICE.
